Independent Investigative Journalism and Commentary from New Orleans, LA

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Sneaky Snakes of 2012, Part 1

After a two year hiatus, I decided this year was a good time to create yet another Sneaky Snake Countdown. I can’t decide if it’s a 2011 (retrospective) countdown or a 2012 (prospectus) countdown. So I’m just calling it Sneaky Snakes of 2012. Well...actually...there’s one other caveat....this time I’m going to use reptiles in general, not just snakes. Some of these folks aren’t really “snakes”, they just have reptilian tendencies so I’ve decided to expand my anthropomorphic palette. Oh...and some of them are imaginary reptiles who may not actually be reptiles. Oh...and I’m using some overarching themes this time with smatterings of new factoids buried here and there. Actually it’s not really even a countdown....and...ah hell...you know what? Just enjoy it.The Original Snake Pit: River BirchFred Heebe, I believe, is a sorcerer. He reminds of me of Kaa, the snake in the Jungle Book. He must have some hypnotic talents capable of seducing...practically everyone....into his pit. His pit being the River Birch landfill.

River Birch has shaped up to be the mother of all corruption stories in the N.O. metro area. Everyone, I mean fucking everyone, seems to have been on Heebe’s payroll...except for me and that’s probably just because he never offered. I have yet to fall under the King Cobra's spell and, of course, Doug over at Slabbed. SOP (his screen name) has been covering the River Birch machinations like stink on...a landfill. (See...I am tempering my profanity.) While most MSM resources have been curiously soporific on the matter (perhaps victims of Heebe’s bewitchment), Slabbed and crew have been relentless. Perhaps reckless as well but this blogging thing can get ugly, present party included. It’s like watching the raw camera angles and outtakes on a porn shoot as opposed to the final edited flick...you don't want to see that...trust me. Regardless, this guy, Heebe, makes even King Georges envious with his mystical charm and such. His prowess is so great, we’re going to lead off the Sneaky Snake countdown with King Cobra Fred Heebe and devote an entire theme to it.Landfill ReptilesFor those of you who aren’t familiar with the entire River Birch saga, here’s a quick, inadequate synopsis: Freed Heebe and his stepfather, own the lease to the River Birch Landfill out near Avondale. They don’t own the land itself...another dude owns that. In an effort to increase their business, Heebe and Ward ALLEGEDLY paid off a fuckwad of power brokers, from politicians to jack-ass “journalists” (present party excluded..not from being a jack-ass but from getting paid), to direct more trash into his cache by either discrediting the legality of other landfills such as the Old Gentilly Landfill or by outright buying lawmakers’ votes and influence. They supposedly accomplished this feat in every cash conduit path imaginable but namely “campaign conduit” methods to...hell...just about every politician in Orleans and Jeff Parish. Of course I’m exaggerating...but not so much. Now...enter the Rat Snake, Henry Mouton.

Mouton, a Lafayette native, served as the Louisiana Fisheries and Wildlife Commissioner circa 2006ish, 7ish. After the FBI grabbed him by the tail, he immediately turned belly up and admitted to accepting a nest full of eggs from “Dude A” and “Dude B” in the FBI investigation in order to bear his venomless fangs against any competing landfills to River Birch. One TP report originally stated Mouton took $464k from the River Birch nest but a report just published puts the total at $267,490. Regardless, Henry the rat snake, rolled like a gator with a deer in its jaws. Word on the street is that he not only used his position to influence contracts for River Birch, he may have even served as a Heebe comesee. The word, underground, where reptiles and snakes dwell, is that Mouton told the Fed that three prominent New Orleans politicians took outright bribes in regard to the River Birch landfill. ahhemmm....non-sequitur?The Blue-Tongued Skink, Ann Duplessis.

Skinks look roughly like true lizards, but most species have no pronounced neck and their legs are relatively small; in fact several genera (e.g., Typhlosaurus) have no limbs at all. Most species of skinks have long, tapering tails that they can shed if a predator grabs the tail. Such species generally can regenerate the lost part of a tail, though imperfectly. Many species are good burrowers. Skinks can have green blood due to a buildup of waste products.

Former Louisiana State Senator, Ann Duplessis, is currently serving in Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s administration as the Deputy Chief Administrative Officer. Duplessis’ ability to shed her tail after it's been snagged and her uncanny ability to burrow in a spot, defying extraction attempts, prompted me to label her the Blue-Tongued Skink. Why the blue tongue? I don’t know...it just looks better. Notice Duplessis didn’t make it to the snake category...yet. And another one who hasn’t made it to that category....The Komodo Dragon: Cynthia Willard Lewis

As a result of their size, these lizards dominate the ecosystems in which they live. Komodo dragons are cannibalistic and eat their young. Their unusual size has been attributed to island gigantism, since there are no other carnivorous animals to fill the niche on the islands where they live. Komodo dragons eat by tearing large chunks of flesh and swallowing them whole while holding the carcass down with their forelegs. For smaller prey up to the size of a goat, their loosely articulated jaws, flexible skull, and expandable stomach allow it to swallow its prey whole. After digestion, the Komodo dragon regurgitates a mass of horns, hair, and teeth known as the gastric pellet, which is covered in malodorous mucus. After regurgitating the gastric pellet, it rubs its face in the dirt or on bushes to get rid of the mucus, suggesting that it, like humans, does not relish the scent of its own excretions. Occasionally they consume humans and human corpses, digging up bodies from shallow graves. Saliva samples were analyzed by researchers at the University of Texas who found 57 different strains of bacteria growing in the mouths of three wild Komodo dragons. If cornered, they will react aggressively by gaping their mouth, hissing, and swinging their tail. If they are disturbed further, they may start an attack and bite. Even seemingly docile dragons may become aggressive unpredictably, especially when the animal's territory is invaded by someone unfamiliar.

The Komodo Dragon is certainly a curios animal from the Far East. While dominating its habitat, it doesn’t always serve the best interest of its own kind. In fact, it can be cannibalistic. If challenged, it will open its mouth and hiss loudly. I’ll leave it at that.The Pit Viper: Derrick Shepherd

Oh bloody hell...I don’t need to say anything about the bad shepherd. Just look at the picture and laugh. Back from non-sequitur? What is a non-non-sequitur? There’s no such thing as a sequitur, you know? Anyway, this leads us to the most surprising landfill reptile find of 2011...The Frill-necked Lizard: Garlandfill Robinette:

The frill-necked lizard is ectothermic and maintains its homeostatic body temperature by basking for up to 40 minutes.[citation needed] This achieves an average of 2–3 degrees Celsius above the surrounding temperature. Weather conditions, including sunlight, are the main factors regulating the lizards’ temperature.This basking period usually occurs in the morning to early afternoon. When the lizard is frightened, it gapes its mouth, exposing a bright pink or yellow lining; the frill flares out as well, displaying bright orange and red scales. The emblem of the Australian Army's Regional Force Surveillance Unit, Norforce (North West Mobile Force) is the frill-necked lizard. The lizard was selected as the unit's emblem because of its speed, aggression, and ability to blend in with its surroundings.

Not only is the Frill-necked Lizard a master of camouflage...you really can’t tell where it’s coming from. It routinely basks in its own magnificence around the noon hours of the day. While loving “sunlight”, its colorful frill tends to block the view of its own ass. Sometimes, it doesn’t even know where it’s standing. But who cares...what beautiful frill it has. Frill on Mr. lizard.WWL commentator, Garland Robinette....the “Voice of Katrina”....took a quarter of a million smackeroos from the King Cobra himself. He claimed the money was “a loan” and had something to do with paying off a bad real estate investment regarding some property on the other side of the pond. According to Garland, it wasn’t a payoff to promote the River Birch landfill, dis Heebe’s competitors (which he did), or simply not talk about the whirlwind of controversy surrounding River Birch on his radio show....it was just a simple loan ‘tween two good bro’s. I suppose Heebe could have been moving from the trash business into banking...I buy that...I think that’s a totally logical progression, coming or going. Only problem with that explanation was that they didn’t really put any of it on paper. Hmmm, for his sake I hope the King Cobra runs the landfill better than he lends money.Oh look....his banker status just got worse. I really want to get a loan from First Heebe and Trust. And.....

“In another new disclosure, Robinette, an avid painter who used at least part of the $250,000 from Heebe to build a 400-square-foot art studio, was paid $10,000 by Heebe to paint portraits of Heebe's twin daughters. Ciolino declined to discuss the portraits.”

I’d just like to point out that I was the first peckerhead to ask that question.Of course, whatever Heebe or Ciolino want to do with their money is their business. As for Robinette, while he may be a “public figure” with a very large responsibility to the community to inform and....well....tell the fucking truth, he is not a government employee nor is he responsible for public money and contracts. Regardless of what the money was for, no laws were broken as far as I can tell. Maybe a tax issue, perhaps, but that can be remedied without criminal proceedings. See, Mouton must go to jail for his quarter of a million dollar payoff because he was a public official. Garland....he’s just a radio host...a public figure but not a public official.Just a radio host....that we all trusted....who was constantly preaching about transparency and “the perception of corruption”....and integrity...journalistic integrity. Garlandfill is the same guy who during the Cedric Richmond/Joseph Cao campaign ranted (paraphrase), “You can’t trust these blogs, it’s not real journalism!” OK, G...we’ll take your word for it since you had such a firm grasp of the story and a superior sense of journalistic integrity. I can no longer bear to listen to his midday, basking period and that’s really a shame because I used to enjoy listening to him. Of a radio station full of aging, half-informed, ultra-conservative, white guys, he was about the only one I could listen to without vomiting. Now, I feel queasy every time I accidentally run across his voice on my radio. He’s like Dennis Miller, there was time when he was really entertaining and pertinent, now you just cringe when you hear his voice. You can only assume he got desperate and fell under reptilian influence. Will your legacy be a George Carlin legacy? Or a Dennis Miller legacy? Garlandfill’s legacy is now of the Dennis Miller variety....he’s become the joke.Her-ass-ic SnarkIt seems just about every sneaky reptile in this year’s post can be linked to River Birch and our old buddy Aaron Broussard is no exception. Unfortunately for Broussard, former sneaky snake, Tim Whitmer, molted his skin and coughed up a big load of dirty on AB. To add insult to injury, Broussard’s former squeeze, Karen Parker, has done the same after Broussard landed her a 6 figure job with Jeff Parish as a paralegal even though she had not the resume to perform the task. Love seems to be fickle in the underground, reptillian world of Louisiana public corruption and Parker is no exception, shedding her own skin while shoving it up Aaron’s wazoo. She’s certainly made the top of the candidate list for “Housewives of Jefferson Parish” or whatever repugnant television series Bravo can dream up for our region.

Broussard and JP is not AZ’s area of expertise so I merrily refer inquiring minds over to the Slabbed nation. Doug and crew have launched such a crowd sourced, scorched earth, expose into the Broussard, River Birch, JP reptile den they have even pissed off the Canadians. I didn’t know that was possible. The mounted Canadian internet police have gone so far as to force Doug’s website host to shut down the blog. He’s back up and running now but I’m quite sure the pressure is still on Slabbed and crew. I’m quite sure of it because they’re on the heels of some very big players who will use any means necessary to avoid exposure. Some of these players have been referenced on AZ in previous posts...sometimes they’ve been referenced in the same post. I’ll let you figure it out.Oh...also...let’s not forget King Cobra Heebe’s influence over Broussard...AAANNNNDDD....Heebe’s influence may have even extended to our own former chrome-domed leader, Ray Nagin. Bet that one caught you off guard...keep your eyes open for that. Anyway, I’m going to give Broussard and crew the dinosaur award this year. I chose that reptile format because I truly think the “Aaron Broussards” of the Louisiana political environment are a dying breed and well on their way to extinction.

Alright, I may have gone overboard with this pic but if you do a Google search for dinosaurs and you find this, you've gotta use it.

Even though Broussard is fighting it to the bitter end...he's toast. For corrupt, old school, LA politicians, the intertubes has become the destructive equivalent of the asteroid strike which slammed into the Yucatan peninsula and wiped out the majority of Jurassic denizens. Oversized T Rex’s like Broussard simply can’t exist in today’s relentless scrutiny empowered by online citizen media. While the phenomenon has yet to spread to other areas of the state, I think it’s just a matter of time before the asteroid plume darkens the skies of Baton Rouge and suffocates other bloated reptiles in the gret stet. As a matter of fact...Baton Rouge sneaky snakes....you should check in with crazy ass Bob Breck about your immediate forecast. I think it’s time to plan your evacuation route. I know you guys think you’re immune to chaos but I have reason to believe the tempest is upon you. I think US Attny. for the middle region of LA, Don Cazayoux, is about to play Tonto to Letten’s Lone Ranger shtick. In case I haven’t mentioned this yet...I’ve been conducting preliminary research on a documentary project I hope to start shooting in short order. The theme will deal with lessons learned from AZ and I hope to have it finished by this time next year ( cough...cough). Snakes on a PlaneWhile conducting the autopsy on exactly what happened during the nightmare that is now known as the “Nagin years”, it has become apparent to me that the infamous plane trip on the HSOA/Fireline G4 jet was a critical moment in the corruption schemes of the day. The main players all converged on the jet: Aaron Bennett, Frank Fradella, Ray Nagin, Greg Meffert. Decisions were made such as putting Anthony “Bowling Pin” Jones in as a puppet CTO and the Chicago jet trip is where Bennett first connected Nagin with Fradella and raised the possibility of kicking back the lucrative Home Depot contract to Ray and son’s company, Stone Age.Actually, the decision to put Bowling Pin in as CTO was made on the 2nd half of the G4 jet tour when they left Chicago and flew to Vegas. Turns out then current CTO, Mark Kurt, was hanging out at the Chicago House of Blues when the G4 entourage arrived to join in on the fun sans Ed Burns (Ciber) who was footing the bill for the Chicago leg of the tour. When Kurt saw Meffert waltz into the club with Aaron Bennett, he lost his shit with the Meff, called him a few choice words and announced that he was officially quitting his CTO position. Turns out Kurt was ultra-paranoid that Bennett was simply bad news and could threaten their own criminal enterprise. So off he went to work for Burns and Ciber while Ray and Greg were left to decide who would fill the CTO spot on the trip to Vegas.Everyone likes to talk about the muthafukin’ boat....but the pimp-ass plane was just as much a vital part of the overall story.

What’s interesting is that most folks think the Bennett timeline and the Meffert timeline were completely separate stories. True that Bennett was never charged for his machinations within Orleans...he was officially stung over his Plaquemines shenanigans. But what you may not know is that Meff and Bennett were cohorts from the beginning of Mayor Nagin’s tenure. In fact, Aaron was partying down with the crew on the Silicon Bayou and may have even taken on Jimmy Goodson’s pimp role once or twice in keeping the boat stocked with the finest T & A New Orleans had to offer. Bennett, of course, pleaded guilty to bribery charges after former Plaquemines Parish Sheriff, Jiff Hingle, wore a wire for Mr. Fed and recorded him agreeing to provide said crooked cop with a payoff. This was just a small turd in comparison to the multiple steaming piles of poo Aaron dropped around the N.O. metro area while racking up one parish and federal contract after another. Particularly the lucrative multi-million dollar Army Corps. of Engineers contract he obtained by claiming his disabled veteran father was the actual owner of his company, Benetech. Benetech was recently stripped of its contractor’s license and after cooperating with Mr.Fed, Bennett will most likely receive a mere slap on the wrist in comparison to say....Mark St. Pierre’s 17 year sentence (more on this in part 2). But the felony charge hasn’t seemed to slow Bennett down much, the TP reported that Aaron recently siphoned 600k out of one of his companies in charge of the critical ACE contract. I’ve also heard word on the zombie wire that Aaron is tunneling his way back into the contracting business, perhaps through his new wife, but officially keeping his name off the SOS database. You can’t keep a good crook down.Hell, he’s even offering up man on the street interviews to Fox 8.Crazy huh? Wait...it gets much crazier....Someone under the screen name “merussell” has been posting some saucy pix of Bennett on Nola.com. Aaron, that crazy bastard, is enjoying the limelight and spoils of being a quasi-rich, paludal contractor in the Gret Stet while simultaneously awaiting the judge to print his itinerary to Club Fed. I’m told the pix of him attending the Playboy golf tournament and pix of him at the Playboy club (just look at them, you can figure out which ones) were snapped the day his lawyer pleaded guilty to his bribery charges with Hingle. Hands down, my favorite pic has to be this one:

It really is quite amazing isn't it? I’m not sure who merussell is but that is the name of his current wife in the pictures, Martha Russell. I’m having a hard time believing Martha would post those pix on a public website while her hubby is awaiting sentencing for ripping off the public. I’m sure the judge and the sub-contractors who have been...forgive me...stiffed...are just giddy knowing Aaron is out living the life on the cash he snookered off the public dime.Remind me to tell guys about an idea I have for a "Pop-up" book. For the sake of argument, if it is her that is publishing the pix....I’d like to deliver a message directly to her:

Martha...this is not a game. Your dickwad husband just embezzled 600k in cash from a FEDERAL contract and redirected it into a business and account with your name on it. Do you know that means? That means you are now on the hook with him...it means you’re fucked and I don’t mean on a beach, in a boat, or at the Playboy mansion...I mean you are figuratively, metaphorically fucked. Let me try Star Wars metaphor on you with a Jedi mind trick, “You do not want death sticks, you want to go home and rethink your life.”

And while we’re on the subject of the Army Corps of Engineers contracts Bennett received (and subsequently fucked up like he has most everything else in his contracting career), I have been researching a little story which I’d like to share with you in hopes that some fellow zombies can help me crowd source the information I’m looking for. I have very good reason to believe that Aaron Bennett bribed at least one high ranking official within ACE in order to...1. receive MATOC contracting status 2. get the multiple contracts Benetech received from ACEMATOC status is not only difficult to obtain, it’s practically impossible yet Benetech managed to land it without having a fraction of the track record they needed to even be considered. I have been in contact with folks who were involved in the inner workings of Benetech’s machinations and job performance on their ACE contracts and I am quite sure the Bennett wheels of incompetence were set in motion by payoffs to at least one high ranking official in ACE if not multiple people. Investigative reporters...start your engines. This is a huge story. This is a huge issue. I’ve been told the work Benetech has done on these ACE contracts is subpar, shoddy and should never have passed the muster but for some reason the ACE officer overseeing their work consistently allowed them to pass with subpar work and continually miss deadlines. This is a big deal folks....we’re talking about our flood control systems...you know...the same shit that failed during Katrina. Let me repeat...this is huge. This may be the best chance we have of exposing corruption within ACE. Help me...please.Now...let me axt you a pacific question...if you wanted to pay off people for government contracts and favors without the payments going on the books, how would you do it?Well...let me provide you with a scenario. You write a check to cash from your company for...say...50k. You take the cash, go down to Harrah’s or another casino and you buy 50k in casino chips. You go to the roulette or blackjack table and gamble 1k or 2k then you get up and walk out the door with the chips. You then go distribute those chips to the folks you want to pay off. Those folks then come back into the casino multiple times and slowly cash the chips in being careful not to cash too much at a time and tip off the IRS. Pretty good plan, huh? I wonder how long Casinos archive their video monitors. Just a thunk...anyhoo...Now I’m going to toot my own horn for a second but I promise not to post any naked pix of myself in leather underwear with Playboy bunnies. Mainly because those pix don’t exist and I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting a Playboy bunny. Reptiles from a Galaxy Far, Far AwayI have always maintained that Fradella and Bennett were the key to busting Ray Nagin. As you all know that seems to be exactly how it is playing out. I was the first media resource to make the connection between HSOA’s subsidiary Cornerstone Marble and Granite and Nagin's Stone Age. I was the one putting my ass on the line questioning former city attorney, Bob Ellis, about his wife, Daya Naef’s involvement with Fradella and Bennett’s companies and whether or not it constituted a conflict of interest, especially considering the city had lawsuits against those companies. The original opinion at the time from LSU law professor, Greg Smith, was that everything was just kosher. I didn’t digest Mr. Smith’s assessment very well and I have continued to examine Mr. Ellis’s dealings with Fradella and Bennett and other issues. I never let up and I have uncovered numerous reasons for concern. Apparently Mr. Fed didn’t swallow Mr. Smith’s original assessment either and now Ellis is officially under investigation. When Ellis and Naef originally came to Rising Tide III to “confront their accuser” they weren’t alone. Bob had two “friends” with him...very large dudes that were scanning the crowd during Harry Shearer’s keynote. I seriously doubt Bob’s assertion that he was there to identify me and serve me with a libel suit. I think he was there to intimidate me into shutting the fuck up. I didn’t. In fact I met with Bob and Daya in my lawyer’s office to try and reach a resolution on his grievances against me. I refused to take down anything I had posted on them because I did not believe I had libeled them.I believed I was asking very important questions that affected our city in a very difficult period. The resolution we agreed on was to allow both of them to post letters to AZ readers to explain their side of the story, which was exactly what I was requesting from the beginning. Those letters of explanation are posted here and here. In retrospect, I would point out these items in Mr Ellis’s response: 2. I never have drafted, reviewed, or participated in the award of any bids.I do not believe this is true and have talked to 2 separate sources who claim that RFP’s were personally delivered to Bennett by Ellis before the bidding process began and they discussed how the bids could best be obtained by Bennett. It’s also worth noting that Benetech’s bonding company for the LAI job, Infinity Surety, was not a T-listed bonding company. This is a basic requirement for any federal/state/city contract. Someone within the city attorney’s office had to allow the Benetech contract to pass without the company being backed by a T-listed bonding company.5. There is no such thing as a “no bid” contract.Well we know that’s not true after the St. Pierre trial. In fact, Benetech obtained the interim city IT services contract without a bid as I had originally claimed. 12. There are no conflicts of interest between Daya and myself. In the one casewhere her client had litigation against the City, it was resolved before the Cityneed to respond or appear; the matter was never assigned to me.We now know that Bennett paid Ellis $35,000 for a “market survey” of the Plaquemines Parish jail project through one of Ellis’s companies, Opus Consulting. Maybe there were no conflicts of interest between the two of them, Bob and Daya, but there was certainly a conflict of interest between the “private businessman/attorney Bob Ellis” and the “city attorney Bob Ellis”.If you read the blog regularly you know there is a deep well of questions that have arisen on Ellis’s many companies and his dealings in City Hall. When he came to the Rising Tide event, he was wearing a shirt with a picture of Yoda on it. I assume that was in response to my “Only a Sith speaks in absolutes” post. As you know a Sith is very clever at hiding their true nature and to that end I am now calling Mr. Ellis “Dark Yoda”.

Yoda is a reptile, huh? Oh well...he is now.Our next Star Wars reptile comes to us from Plaquemines Parish....Jiffa the Hutt

I try to stay on track with AZ and stick to Orleans Parish reptiles but Louisiana corruption is so damn incestuous (and that’s coming from a native Kentuckian) you can’t possibly isloate the story of one parish’s criminals without crossing over to another. While River Birch and Fred Heebe’s dealings cross over into multiple parishes and affect a whole slew of public figures, Bennett’s tentacles are rather impressive as well. For all of his dealings in Orleans with Nagin and crew, it’s funny that Mr. Fed decided to nail him via former Plaquemines Parish Sheriff, Jiff Hingle. Jiff made the mistake of crossing FOX 8 investigative reporter Lee Zurik’s radar and sweet Buddha....if you’re a crooked politician the last thing you want to see on your caller ID is that name. If you do see it, just go home, pack up your shit and head for Costa Rica...Bora Bora...Bunkie...wherever. Hingle pleaded guilty to falsely reporting 150k in campaign contributions and taking 20k in a bribe from Bennett. But the list....oh man....the list on Hingle is long and sordid as the LA. State legislative auditor recently echoed. The enormity of Hingle’s footprint...or assprint in the case of Jiffa the Hutt...may have even snared a former FBI agent. Zurik is a one man wrecking crew when it comes to public corruption in the metro area and he even did the unthinkable by crossing the pond and drilling into the St. Tammany corruption snakepit. You see...Tamminites believe everything in St. Tammany is far removed from the perceived cesspool they view Orleans to be. Everything on that side of the water is “safe”...even the corruption within their parish government is insular and untouchable for the most part. Well, Zurik didn’t get the memo and he nailed former Tammany assessor Patricia Core to the fucking wall in what may have been the most uncomfortable interview in local television news history. I mean it’s like watching sausage being made....from puppies. Zurik questioned, among other things, why her office was using public money to buy meals and alcohol at incredibly expensive restaurants. She blamed everything on her boozing employee, George Klumpp...after telling Zurik she “deserved” to buy expensive meals on the public dime. Core is now...of course....the subject of a federal investigation. Henceforth, Patricia shall be known as Admiral Klumpp-at-the-Bar (Admrial Ackbar for you non-Star Wars fans or non-Ole MIss grads).

Look...I want to help local public officials, corrupt and legit. I’m serious about this....if you get a call from Lee Zurik and you have something to hide....just fucking run...run as hard and far as you can. Or if you’re Catholic just have him meet you down at the confessional and hope the public finds it in their hearts to forgive. Whatever you do...don’t taunt him...that’s a really bad idea.

Whitmergate, I agree there has been a full scale media...not necessarily black out...but suppression of River Birch. I said as much in the beginning of the post.

But I don't necessarily see the conspiracy of silence on Zurik's part. I'm not sure what happened with Val but I want to find out her side of the story. I wouldn't doubt the suppression is coming from the top down at every MSM outlet and perhaps Zurik was told not to go there.

Regardless, the guy has tilted some pretty big windmills and he deserves props for that. If we find out he's pulled a Garlandfill...that's a different story but at the moment I think his track record speaks for itself.

Yeah you're the third vote on the skink. I still like Heebe, Jiffa the Hutt, and for some reason I really like Admiral Knapp-at-the-bar. I think like the Admiral just because it was such a flash of inspiration.

What's funny is I originally had Duplessis as the Komodo and CWL as the skink...I'd even written the bios. But then I happened to see the pix side by side and it hit me like freight train....Duplessis had to be the skink...the metaphor even fit better.

If you had any idea how much time I put into this shit....I don't even want to admit it.

Uhhh....not feeling it. Cummings is one of a handfull of developers in this city that could pull off something of that magnitude. The money was coming from D-CDBG funding and it was originally at 30 million. That plan never happened and only a small portion of the original plan actually made it into the real world.

I personally thought the vision was kick-ass. I'm obviously biased because I know a lot about what the original vision was and personally I would love to see the river more accessible to the city on every level. If Cummings was a "Nagin insider" he's no different than Pres Kabacoff/Ed Boatner being a Bartholomew insider and they gave us the vision for what is now the warehouse district....and our Warehouse district fucking rocks.

There are a lot of reasons to hate developers in this city, and every city for that matter...I'm personally not anti-development. I appreciate the conservation perspective and the new development perspective....and someone will always profit and someone will always lose.

Having said that, I think this city has done one hell of a job at balancing development and preservation....I think the landscape of this city is unlike any other city in the country and that's due to the developers and preservationists alike and the ongoing battle between the two entities.

I think RTC was a beautiful vision that could have re-invigorated this city...but it didn't happen for whatever reason. As for Cummings, I think the properties he has developed are rather impressive, i.e., the Rice Mill Lofts in the Bywater...I think it's a beautiful building...I'd love to live there if I could afford it.

I think the Lafitte Greenway is a kick-ass project as well...I don't see how much different RTC was from it in terms of how it would have benefitted the city.

I don't understand what you're referring to when you're saying Zurik ignored "the story". What is the story? That Cummings got some special treatment from Nagin? What is the accusation?

If I recall correctly, some folks mapped out the areas being targeted in Reinvent the Crescent and found a lot of recently acquired properties, listed under the names of Cummings' father, wife, and other family members. Nathan Chapman was involved in tracking that down. My impression from that is that Cummings will personally profit from the initiative. There was a little online map showing those properties and I wish I'd bookmarked it at the time - must have been a couple of years ago. I'll see if I can find it.

I wish I better understood the River Birch - New Orleans East angle. I spent some time talking to people in the Vietnamese community out by Michoud, and completely understand why they objected to the landfill that was leaching nastiness into their water supply. There are a lot of serious gardens that the canal supports, and it was crucial to that area's recovery from the storm that the landfill be closed off to the heavily toxic waste - appliances, asbestos tiles, etc. - from the Katrina cleanup. Was CWL the rep for that area? If so, she was representing her constituents in opposing the Gentilly Landfill.

But what is the quid pro quo that would make it illegal? I know Cummings donated to his campaign but that still doesn't make anything illegal...that happens all the time. Construction companies like the Boh Bros. would be committing illegal acts all over town. I don't understand what illegality is being implied.

The Vietnamese community was sold out by its leaders as some of the most vocal members of the clergy & community leaders were paid handsomely by RiverBirch to help raise on the ground local distractors to help shut it down. CWL was the councilwoman at the time who was an ardent supporter of Old Gentilly until the money came flowing it from the RB peeps. Then she mysteriously did a 180 and became the most vocal proponent of shutting that "environmental" deathtrap down.

Fact of the matter is that Old Gentilly wasn't the poison pit the PR machine made it out to be. Many environmentalists were used & abused and are just now coming to grips with how they were manipulated to help River Birch. It is sad if it wasn't so true.

Great job on the Sneaky Snake countdown. Sneaky Snake 2010 led to a 100% indictment rating and 2012 should come close to that number especially if you throw in Julie Quinn to pad the stats.

Zombie, you are so right. The balance between preservation and redevelopment in New Orleans is better than in the rest of the USA.

The push and pull of interests works out to a dynamic tension a lot of the time. Many of the developers have had their aesthetic improved by being around so much intentional and unintentional beauty.

If it were all preservation, living in a sugar-sweet stage set of a place would kill the soul even as it embalmed the outward form.

Sometimes what developers do makes people wrinkle their noses with displeasure, even if it isn't illegal. But the point for them is to make money; they are obviously going to try to do that.

Every place has a certain level of corruption and self-dealing among local power brokers. So do you want fries with that? If you live someplace like Kenner, you get petty corruption and a whole lotta ugly. If you live in New Orleans, you get corruption and a hell of a town.

I'm not advocating for the corruption. There is too much of it, and people dying on rooftops, or whole ecosystems being harmed, tells you things have gotten seriously out of hand.

Not ignoring it, just not going to chase every old squirrel like a crazy dog. Or worse, seeing squirrels where there are no squirrels, like a crazy old dog having acid flashbacks.

Ignoring it is no good. You have to tackle it. But you'll go nuts if you try to root out every little thing people try on for size.

Some kind of Zen balance between rigor and slack is required. If there has been too much slack: needs more rigor. If things have gotten too tight and high, you're going to need to find a way to relax.

I think that the opposition to the Old Gentilly Landfill was a mixture of genuine concern (e.g. Vietnamese community, Sierra Club, Tulane Environmental Law Clinic) and River Birch manipulation. However, one very interesting aspect that has not received very much attention is the line up on the first lawsuit against the landfill. Remson vs. the City of New Orleans, CDC #2006-0829. This was a lawsuit for an injunction to enjoin the operation of the Old Gentilly Landfill. Some very familiar figures were involved. First, Sherman Copelin was one of the plaintiffs. I know he lives in Eastover but I don't think that the landfill affected Eastover. Second, Kyle Schoekas was the attorney for the plaintiffs. Remember him? He is one of River Birch's attorneys. Third, Suzie Morgan and Kim Boyle of Phelps Dunbar represented -- you won't believe this -- Waste Management! As I understand from old Slabbed posts, this would be the same firm that advised Jeff Parish on how to terminate its contract with Waste Management. Perhaps Dane Ciolino would care to discuss how Phelps resolved that conflicts issue.

What's fishy and doesn't pass the smell test about Reinventing the Crescent is that Cummings was the high ranking city official paid more than $100K per year as director of the obscure New Orleans Building Commission, a city agency, when all the speculating and profiteering in real estate by he and his family were happening. If Cummings were just a campaign contributor trying to buy influence and insider information from politicians that would be one disturbing thing. But 1.) he bought his job with Nagin with about $224K in campaign contributions raised by Shawn Cummings and his dad at a fundraiser they hosted at Shawn's hotel, 2.) Cummings convinced Nagin to turn over all of the planning for reinventing the crescent to him, just as Meffert convinced Nagin to issue the notorious no-bid executive order which opened the door wide for Meffert, St. Pierre and the rest of that band of thieves to rob the city blind while promising technology would solve all of our problems from crime to homelessness and 3.) as a city official it appears that Cummings may have used inside information to benefit himself and his families.

Reinvening the Crescent may turn out to be a wonderful development; it's certainly welcomed that Marigny and Bywater will get public spaces and access to the river and the entire city can enjoy what's promised, but must we to surrender all standards of good government and propriety and allow city officials to use insider information as an advantage over honest businessmen and investors?

Nice work; I would hope someone in the ACE who was as disgusted with the Benetech projects as the Parishes were would come forward. I know a number of people who were connected have since left. Can't say it was because of the project or their connection to Bennett, but their departure seems relevant. If Mr. Fed is reading this I hope he understands that the person whose wrist he is about to slap has committed multiple frauds affecting more than a few people. Bennett lost the SDVOB classification yet continues to do those jobs which according to the USACE were set aside for a Service Disabled Vet Owned Business; why? His father was obviously involved in the ruse, but never charged: why? He was stripped of his contractors license for fraudulently obtaining state elevation contacts from another fraudulent contractor (Celebrity), but never charged with fraud by the state AG; why? He claimed only to have made $17,000 on his tax return while it is obvious he lives well beyond that; why hasn't the IRS stepped in? According to the law of the land; federal, State and local law enforcement can prosecute anyone who has committed embezzlement, fraud or bribery under the Racketeering Law known as the RICO act. Given the Bennett family's record over the past two years I would ask the State Attorney General, Orleans D.A. (crimes occurred in his jurisdiction) and Mr. Letten why none of them have seen fit to bring charges. Nagin's stint is over and he is probably going down, but to allow Aaron Bennett and his associates (father and wife) a free pass to continue their larceny would be a crime in itself.

1.) he bought his job with Nagin with about $224K in campaign contributions raised by Shawn Cummings and his dad at a fundraiser they hosted at Shawn's hotel

He bought his job? I understand what disturbs you about it but I don't think this is illegal. If it is, we would definitely need to examine the Mayor Landrieu's appointment to positions as well. Political favors and cronyism is what we're addressing and while it's stinky, I don't think it's illegal. But I honestly don't know. Didn't Mitch appoint all of his staff at his discretion? Seriously, I am not sure what the legality or process is there.

2.) Cummings convinced Nagin to turn over all of the planning for reinventing the crescent to him

uhhhh....well....it was his vision to begin with. It wasn't a matter of turning it over to him, it was a matter of green-lighting the project or not.

Otherwise you're suggesting that Nagin should have taken Cummings vision, green-lighted it and given to another developer?

I mean, that is certainly the M.O. for many politicians, I'd defer to Brian Denzer and his NolaStat program in the present day and in the past I think a textbook example of this scenario was the St. Thomas Development. If I'm not mistaken there were some underhanded maneuvers that went on with Morial on that project to get it into the hands of his cronies after they had gleaned what they needed from HRI/HCI (Kabacoff/Boatner). That company then ended up defaulting the contract because they didn't have the capacity to do the job and HRI/HCI had to come in and pick it up after a lot of cash had been dumped.

3.) as a city official it appears that Cummings may have used inside information to benefit himself and his families.

That may be true, I don't know. I guess I am curious what insider information was received and then what benefits. I think it's hard to ascertain what's ethical with developers like Cummings, Cannizaro, Kabacoff when they own so much property to begin with. If you are using public money to build developments that raise the value of you own real estate because it's in that vicinity...is that ethical or common business sense?

I mean shit...Tom Bentsen is getting the sweetheart deal of the century backed by state and city cash, is he not? Bentsen holds the card everyone in the city wants, the Saints...so it's ok to divert shitloads of cash into Bentsen tower and fill it up with gov. rentals in order to make sure Bentsen is profiting enough to keep the team here. If Cummings held the Reinventing the Crescent card and everyone was as desperate to get it as they were the Saints I doubt there would be any concern.

I don't know the answer...because I don't understand the law well enough to assess that situation.

I understand the suspicion but I don't know if there is actually any breach of the law. A lot of this seems to be politics as usual in regards to campaign contributions in return for political favors but if the quid pro quo began with the private entity making legal campaign contributions and/or services in return for the eventual favors, it may be stinky and business as usual but not necessarily illegal.

I guess the question "Was the NOBC position appointed legally?" is the biggest question mark in your thesis. Does the mayor of the city have the right to appoint admin. positions at his/her discretion? If not, how are the positions appointed?

I have been waiting for this and trying to be patient; thank you for exceeding my expectations. My favorite part of this "examination" is yet to come. I am waiting to find out who erased Nagin's emails... and why. What was in those emails that necessitated such a drastic and blatantly illegal act? Am counting on you to have the answers... as usual.

Jason ... about Val Bracy’s departure from Fox 8 ... this is MY PERSONAL take on what may have transpired:

What is generally not understood by the public and unknown to Bracy at the time, is that her investigations were a prelude to AMV’s whistleblower claims subsequently filed in the JP Personnel Board records. Most of what Ms.Bracy reported was rooted in the avalanche of Public Record Requests being generated by the FBI, the media and private individuals beginning in August of 2009.

And it was Ms.Bracy who was at the forefront of these investigations on behalf of Fox 8 due to the fact that Zurik was contractually prohibited from doing so until the Spring of 2010. She aggressively followed the Wilkinson and Villio stories relating to prohibited political activities, the para-legal payroll fraud cases and yes even the smoke and mirror Trout Point escapades of Broussard’s ‘investments’ in Nova Scotia.

Val’s first two interviews, first of Broussard (he resigned the next day after it was aired) and the second of Wilkinson (who himself resigned a couple of weeks later) were ‘up in your face’ and produced some interesting revelations by both.

Ms. Bracy’s third and final interview was of AMV while she was on leave without pay, an unwarranted and unconscionable action taken by TheRiot in further retaliation against Ms.Vandenweghe for doing her job, responding to PRR requests from the FBI, the media and the public, which was her assigned duty as Asst Parish Atty, including making returns to the US Grand Jury.

In covering Ms. Vandenweghe’s story as part of the Jefferson Parish Scandals, Val Bracy became another collateral victim of the Jefferson Parish Politico Mafioso’s continuing vendetta against AMV. And the owner of Fox 8 is Benson, who is as much a Jefferson Parish thug as Broussard, had other plans. The station went through sham motions to test how Ms. Bracy would pair with Zurik as co-anchor, but of course she “was not right” for the part. And since so much money was spent on Zurik’s contract there seemed not to be enough money in the ‘investigative reporting’ budget to adequately pay Ms.Bracy the salary ‘she could demand elsewhere’.

What were the terms of Ms. Bracy’s departure agreement is not for me to speculate on. What is a fact is that she was no longer wanted at Fox8. And I suggest that it was her reporting of the Jefferson Parish Scandals being the reason for her departure.

We have not heard the words ‘Jefferson Parish’ out of Zurik’s mouth since !!!

PS...And it is my considered opinion that both Goyeneche and Zurik are Letten whores who ‘investigate’ what’s handed to them by Letten on a silver platter... Period.

PPS...Broussard’s Saints Museum run by Ken Trahan is at the Superdome with Benson’s blessing... this is the same Trahan who was illegally paid as a para-legal while baby sitting this place for Broussard...Trahan, like Karen Parker, should be indicted and prosecuted for payroll fraud.

Your question Clay, “What is Trout Point?” … The answer is that it’s one big litigious and volitile cluster-fuck ! … and you can archive this subject matter over at Slabbed.org to your heart’s content ... or until the goats come home as others might say.

val bracy got the same treatment as arnie fielkow. benson is an evil pig...benson changed the name of his yacht "lady grace" named after his supposedly beloved dead wife #2 to "lady gayle" wife #3. what more do you need to know. al copeland is keeping a spot for tom warm in hell.

Short story, Clay.....Trout Point is a lodge in Canada which Broussard had ownership in along with some other muckity mucks, maybe even a prominent local television anchor. The theory is that it was nothing more than a money laundering funnel...you want a favor you buy a block of rooms at Trout Point for X dollars. You don't actually have to go there but you just buy the rooms and you end up getting what you want from JP government.

Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Goldilocks. She went for a walk in the forest. Pretty soon, she came upon a house. She knocked and, when no one answered, she walked right in.

At the table in the kitchen, there were three bowls of porridge. Goldilocks was hungry. She tasted the porridge from the first bowl.

"This porridge is too hot!" she exclaimed.

So, she tasted the porridge from the second bowl.

"This porridge is too cold," she said

So, she tasted the last bowl of porridge.

"Ahhh, this porridge is just right," she said happily and she ate it all up.

After she'd eaten the three bears' breakfasts she decided she was feeling a little tired. So, she walked into the living room where she saw three chairs. Goldilocks sat in the first chair to rest her feet.

"This chair is too big!" she exclaimed.

So she sat in the second chair.

"This chair is too big, too!" she whined.

So she tried the last and smallest chair.

"Ahhh, this chair is just right," she sighed. But just as she settled down into the chair to rest, it broke into pieces!

Goldilocks was very tired by this time, so she went upstairs to the bedroom. She lay down in the first bed, but it was too hard. Then she lay in the second bed, but it was too soft. Then she lay down in the third bed and it was just right. Goldilocks fell asleep.

As she was sleeping, the three bears came home.

"Someone's been eating my porridge," growled the Papa bear.

"Someone's been eating my porridge," said the Mama bear.

"Someone's been eating my porridge and they ate it all up!" cried the Baby bear.

"Someone's been sitting in my chair," growled the Papa bear.

"Someone's been sitting in my chair," said the Mama bear.

"Someone's been sitting in my chair and they've broken it all to pieces," cried the Baby bear.

They decided to look around some more and when they got upstairs to the bedroom, Papa bear growled, "Someone's been sleeping in my bed,"

"Someone's been sleeping in my bed, too" said the Mama bear

"Someone's been sleeping in my bed and she's still there!" exclaimed Baby bear.

Just then, Goldilocks woke up and saw the three bears. She screamed, "Help!" And she jumped up and ran out of the room. Goldilocks ran down the stairs, opened the door, and ran away into the forest. And she never returned to the home of the three bears.

as for Pres Kabacoff and HRI, they did similar shenanigans. is it any coincidence former mayor Sidney Barthelemy is now on Kabacoff's staff?! its quid pro quo..."you help me make lots of money, I give you a job afterward".

it's the same deal Meffert & Nagin had -- the plan was always for Nagin to come work for Meffert's software corp after his term. cushy office, short days, and more contacts. thats what the plan was.

and more Cummings fun -- he's trying to build a god-awful giant miami-style condo building on the river, 501 Elysian Fields. it's hideous. but besides aesthetics, it's 75' -- exactly 50% over our area's zone of 50'. however, he is citing (during a presentation to us) a study from the city stating the area should allow exceptions to 75'. who conducted that city study? SEAN CUMMINGS! while wearing his city-employee hat...because surely he can keep city desires and his developer desires separate, right?

if you cannot see the conflict of interest, youre blind (on this issue).

we in the neighborhood are fighting this...hard. we DONT WANT new condo towers rising over our neighborhood of small houses and blocking off the view of our own damn river. would you?

Not. Was Sean Cummings buying hookers and blow on a subcontractor's credit card?

Dude...I get it...you don't like him. But you have yet to name a single instance where he broke the law. Meffert absolutely broke the law.

Having said that, I am not Sean Cummings defense attorney, I'm not even his publicist. I am not here to serve those purposes and this post had absolutely nothing to do with this topic. I've said repeatedly "I don't know" in regards to the issues you're raising and guess what? I still don't know.

You're suggesting I blog about his business ethics? Are you fucking kidding me? I'll get right on that...in my next life.

Let me recapitulate something...this is my house and my table. You are a guest at my table, not a customer at a restaurant (unless you have donated and I seriously doubt you have...even then you are still a guest pitching in for the meal). If you dont' like the meals I serve you're more than welcome to leave and host your own dinner party. I served fried chicken with beer on this post...you are currently standing at the end of the table bitching about how I should have served duck with Dom Perignon. I would kindly suggest you take the matter into your own hands and indulge in this conversation at your own dinner table.

nope, you missed the analogy. i wasnt ever referring to Meffert's illegal dealings...what i pointed out what was mayor-developer game between Kabacoff & Barthelemy is the same as what Meffert & Nagin had planned:

it's the same deal Meffert & Nagin had -- the plan was always for Nagin to come work for Meffert's software corp after his term. cushy office, short days, and more contacts. thats what the plan was.

...exec gives contractor big $$ deals, then plans for a cushy job afterward. that was the Nagin-Meffert deal (i know this because they told us). that was the Kabacoff-Barthelemy deal. "same". this was to my over-all point that the developer-exec game in new orleans is at the least unethical.

as for "liking" Cummings -- irrelevant. ive never met the man personal, i have no personal opinion on him. my issue is purely ethical.

i never understood how touchy you get when people mention issues you may not be seeing....like the slime-factor of Cummings, despite the work youve done for him. whatever, bra.

Dude...I said "I DON"T KNOW". How many fucking times do you want me to say it? I'm being touchy when you keep beating me over the fucking head with it? What do you want me to say....yeah that guy is the fucking devil? I discussed it with you rationally then you just kept needling on it.

regarding legality...the reason i and others brought up Cummings is because the man's unethical. which, as you pointed out, is separate than criminal. however unethical city employees are the next worst thing to criminal city employees... and i have no problem chiming in w/ that bandwagon on your comments on a post about criminal and unethical city workers.

I’ve written extensively on ethics and fully understand your pleadings and frustrations relating to the Cummings’ (father and son) activities ... so please do no miscue when I say that your insistence that Jason give you some kind of answer and/or approval of your hypothesis has become boring no matter how many times you ‘strawman’ your rants ...

Jason’s suggestion that you originate your own blog is probably the only thing that will fulfill your passion to excoriate the Cummings ... and here’s my suggestion for your blog’s name:

Hey Dambala:Love the hypothetical casino money laundering scheme. Here's another hypothetical scheme. Let's say that you are an assessor for a large parish. Let's also say that you also a partner in a law firm. A company that owns property in that large parish comes to you in your assessor capacity looking for a break on the assessment on the property. Perhaps an understanding is reached: In return for that assessment reduction, you hire my law firm to do your legal work. I'm not saying that this was actually done, but it would be worthwhile to cross-reference that lawfirm's client list with the property owned by those clients in the large parish.